College History

History of our college The story of the College of Natural Resources is a story of people and passion. People who were and are passionately committed to the health and well-being of natural resources and sustaining their many diverse benefits to society. It is a story of a community of faculty, scientists, students, staff, alumni and partners who, for over 100 years, have lead in the development and application of the natural resource and environmental paradigms of the day.

The beginning of the 20th Century brought Giffort Pinchot’s ideas of conservation and wise use to a young, industrializing nation. The origins of the College of Natural Resources coincide with those of the conservation movement and in 1904, the first forestry course was offered to students. Over the next 100 years the College has grown to be the most comprehensive natural resources college in the country with academic, research and outreach programs in forest sciences, fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology, geosciences, geospatial sciences, human dimensions, rangeland ecology, recreation and tourism, watershed management and environmental sciences.

Sculpture of a logger From the early 1900’s through the 1950’s, American’s valued natural resources for economic and human-related benefits – wood to build houses, fish and game to hunt, rangeland to support livestock, minerals and oil for energy. Beginning in the 1960’s, many began to value resources for their non-economic values such as wilderness, clean air and water, and endangered species. The writings of John Muir, who spoke so eloquently of the beauty and wonder of nature, and Aldo Leopold, who wrote of a land ethic and nature as a community of interdependent parts, increasing influenced natural resources rograms. During this time, the College became a pioneer in integrated, whole system approaches to natural resources education, research and outreach. Our Pingree Park summer program and other field courses gave students unique opportunities to apply their classroom learning to the natural world.

In 2005, we retain the guiding notions of conservation which have expanded to include principles of sustainable development, community-based stewardship, environmental sustainability and restoration. The reach of our College programs are now felt in over 63 countries and are grounded in the latest technologies and science. In the 21st Century, as in 1904, we proudly honor our land grant heritage and service to the people and cherished natural resources of Colorado. We also are passionately dedicated to producing natural resources leaders, and solutions that will solve the complex environmental problems of a growing and global society.

Today, we introduce you to the College past and present, and with great pride, welcome you to our exciting future as the Warner College of Natural Resources. We also invite you to please join us as together we write the next chapters of our story.

Mountain lake

Historical Timeline 1904-2005

1900
1904 First forestry course offered in the Department of Horticulture and Botany by Professor Burton O. Longyear, a graduate of the Yale School of Forestry.
1909 The first 4-year forestry degree was offered.
1909 Burton O. Longyear became head of newly created Department of Botany and Forestry

1910
1911 The first regular classes in forestry were started in 1911-12 with two students taking the course, H.N. Gallaher and Will Brown.
1912 Burton O. Longyear became the first State Forester.
1912 First Forestry graduate was H.N. Gallaher.
1912 An Act of Congress provided national forest land to the College for the formation of Pingree Park, the College’s mountain campus.
1915 W. J. Morrill was appointed Professor of Forestry of the newly created Department of Forestry, thus making it independent of the former Department of Botany and Forestry.
1917 The first forestry summer camp was held

1920
1922 The first game management instruction began as a course in Economic Forest Zoology and Woodcraft.
1923 Major Roy G. Coffin was the first to teach a formal geology course.
1924 First Foresters’ Day was held.
1925 Plans were developed to give range management instruction to forestry students through cooperation with the Botany Department.
1927 Students were first required to attend Pingree Park Forestry Camp, which included a four day packing trip covering camp construction, cooking, fire fighting, trail construction, land surveying, and forest protection training.

1930
1936 The Forestry Building was completed.
1937 The first annual field day occurred at Pingree Park.
1937 Prof. J.V.K. Wagar initiated a course entitled National Park Management. This marked the beginning of what was to become a rich history in park management.
1938 Department of Forestry within the Division of Agriculture became the independent Division of Forestry.
1938 J. Lee Deen became the first dean on Aug. 15, 1938, and served until 1951. Mrs. Alma Brannan became the first full-time secretary.
1939 The first Toothless Saw Award was given at the 1939 Foresters’ Day and has been awarded annually since to a student or faculty member who commits the “biggest boner” of the year.
1939 The Department of Range and Pasture Management under Prof. E. W. Nelson, was transferred from Agriculture to Forestry.

1940
1941 First student cabins were built at Pingree Park .
1941 The Division of Forestry, with the Department of Forestry and the Department of Range and Pasture Management, became the Division of Forestry and Range Conservation.
1941 Grace Lucille Girardet (Richards), ‘41, was one of the first female graduates of the Division of Forestry and Range Conservation. .
1945 Graduate programs leading to the M.F. degree were first catalogued in 1945-46.
1946 Student Harley Booth disappeared returning to his cabin after doing field work at Pingree Park . His body was found the following year.
1947 The first crop of M. F.’s graduated, with 14 master’s students representing all three departments.
1947 The Colorado Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit was established through cooperation between the Division of Forestry and Range Management, the Colorado Game & Fish Department, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Management Institute. Dr. L. E. Yeager became the leader of the Unit.

1950
1951 The Division became the “School of Forestry and Range Management.”
1951 The “Department of Forest Recreation and Game Management” became the “Department of Forest Recreation and Wildlife Conservation,” when the major in Fish Management was first catalogued in 1951-52.
1952 C. H. Wasser was appointed the second dean of the School of Forestry and Range Management, succeeding Dean D. L. Deen.
1955 William R. Kreutzer, a Colorado native and the first person to hold the title of United States Forest Ranger, received an honorary doctorate of science degree from Colorado A & M.
1957 “Colorado A & M” became “Colorado State University” and the School of Forestry and Range Management was designated a College.
1957 A geology major was approved and department status was granted with David Harris as Department Chair.
1958 Cooperative Watershed Management Unit was created.

1960
1964 The first Geology M.S. degree was awarded.”
1966 “College of Forestry and Range Management” changed its name to “College of Forestry and Natural Resources.”
1966 “Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology” organized from the “Department of Forest Recreation and Wildlife Conservation.”
1966 “Department of Recreation and Watershed Resources” formed with Arthur T. Wilcox named department head.
1967 The Grassland Biome Study began to undertake extensive ecosystem research, which led to the establishment of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL).
1968 The Department of Recreation and Watershed Resources acquired Poudre River bottomland for use as the Northern Colorado Nature Center. Over the years, this property evolved into CSU’s Environmental Learning Center (ELC).
1969 Robert E. Dils became dean of the College.

1970
1970 On the night of May 8, 1970, Old Main burned to the ground taking with it all of the research materials and other belongings the geology students had in their offices.
1971 “Department of Recreation and Watershed Resources” separated into “Department of Watershed Sciences” and “Department of Recreation Resources.”
1973 “Department of Earth Resources” formed by combining the “Department of Watershed Sciences” with the “Department of Geology” from the College of Natural Sciences.
1976 Natural Resources Building completed.
1977 Jay M. Hughes became dean of the College.
1978 The Fishery and Wildlife Biology Larval Fish Laboratory (LFL) was established and has been the principal source of technical information for state and federal agencies on native and non-native fishes in the Upper Colorado River. The LFL is a nationally recognized center for the study of early life history of fishes.
1979 Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology moved to the Veterinary Medicine Building and the structure was renamed the J.V.K. Wagar Building.

1980
1981 The College ceremonial Mace was created. Members of the Recreation Resources department designed the ram’s head. The three-and-one-half-foot black walnut staff, surmounted by a carved rams head, is embellished in silver with the emblems of Colorado State University and the State of Colorado.
1983 For the first time, a Fall Forestry Camp was held at Pingree Park under the direction of Dr. Ed Frayer, Department Head of Forest and Wood Sciences.
1985 Professor Robert Shaw started working at the military Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado. This was the start of the CSU Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML).
1987 The “Department of Recreation Resources and Landscape Architecture” was established, with a Tourism and Commercial Recreation Option.
1989 Ingrid (“Indy”) C. Burke became the first female, tenure-track assistant professor in the College. She was hired by the head of the Department of Forest Sciences, A. Allen Dyer.

1990
1991 On December 11, 1991 the governing board formally approved the name change from “College of Forestry and Natural Resources” to “College of Natural Resources.”
1991 Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Unit established in the Recreation department.
1992 A. Allen Dyer became dean of the College.
1993 Coors Brewing Company donated $500,000 for the construction of an environmental education building for ELC. Over the next seven years, more than 100 private and public partners actively supported the continued development of the ELC.
1994 A summer forest fire swept through the Pingree Park Campus.
1994 The Natural and Environmental Sciences (NESB) Building was constructed and serves as home to the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL), an international environmental research Center.
1994 The Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) became a sponsored program of the CSU College of Natural Resources.
1995 The Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit was recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the most outstanding Cooperative Research Unit in the country.
1999 Forestry Building was listed on the state register of historical places.

2000
2000 In July 2000, a new building housing the ELC was opened by an interagency partnership among CSU, the City of Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau, Colorado State Parks, and the Colorado Welcome Center Program. The 9,000 square-foot building features an indoor classroom, outdoor amphitheater, teaching forest, self-guided wetland walk, and scenic areas for resting and reflecting.
2003 “Department of Earth Resources” became “Department of Geosciences.” The “Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship” was also created.
2003 Dean A. Allen Dyer retired.
2004 Joyce K. Berry appointed as first female Dean of the College.
2005 College is comprised of approximately 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students, 65 tenure-track faculty, 740 total faculty, scientists, staff and student employees, and 11,500 alumni.
2005 The College is named in honor of alumnus, Edward M. Warner, geologist, conservationist, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
 
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